This blog focuses on news and information regarding practice in the federal courts in the Eastern District of California, with a special emphasis on criminal and civil rights cases.

Blog Author

John Balazs is an attorney in Sacramento, California, specializing in criminal defense, including appeals, habeas corpus, pardons, expungements, and civil forfeiture actions. After graduating from UCLA Law School in 1989, he clerked for Judge Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. John was an Assistant Federal Defender in Fresno and Sacramento from 1992-2001. He currently serves as an adjunct professor in clinical trial advocacy at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. Please email EDCA items of interest to Balazslaw@gmail.com. Follow me on twitter @balazslaw.

Disclaimer

This blog is for informational purposes only. Nothing in this blog should be construed as legal advice. The law can change rapidly and information in this blog can become outdated. Do your own research or consult with an attorney.

June 01, 2015

U.S. Attorney Explains Drop In EDCA Immigration, Child Porn Cases

Fresno indictments in 2014 hit the lowest level in at least five years. Overall, indictments in 2014 were down 36% from 2013.

Benjamin Wagner, U.S. Attorney for California’s eastern federal judicial district, which includes Fresno, says the reasons for the steep decline in immigration prosecution are federal court rulings combined with a change in California law.

As a result, Wagner says, dangerous undocumented immigrants are being released from county jails across the central San Joaquin Valley before federal law enforcement can arrest them.

“It’s something we’re quite concerned about,” he says. “Our focus is not people who are here illegally, but people who are here illegally and have a significant criminal history and pose a public risk.”

Immigration activists offer a different viewpoint. They say the change is welcome and has largely stopped people from being held in jail solely because of their immigration status.

* * *

While immigration cases accounted for much of the drop in Fresno federal indictments, there is another area seeing a high-profile decline: sex crimes against minors.

In Fresno, for years this has often been synonymous with child pornography arrests, with the Eastern District of California charging such cases at twice the national average. The backbone of the push has been Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Recently, Wagner asked prosecutors in both Fresno and Sacramento to pursue fewer indictments, but target the more serious cases.

An example would be the arrest last August of Visalia resident Tyrell Richmond, who is charged with sex trafficking after authorities say he tried to force three girls into prostitution in Fresno and Visalia. The case was a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fresno Police Department along with the Visalia Police Department.

As a result of the new approach, indictments for sex crimes against minors went from 33 in 2013 to 20 last year — a 39% drop.

Wagner says he wants the focus on child pornography production more than the guy with a child porn collection who is “living in his mom’s basement.” He also wants prosecution priorities focused more on sexual predators and any one who is in a position of authority who may be breaking child sex crime laws.

Comments

U.S. Attorney Explains Drop In EDCA Immigration, Child Porn Cases

Fresno indictments in 2014 hit the lowest level in at least five years. Overall, indictments in 2014 were down 36% from 2013.

Benjamin Wagner, U.S. Attorney for California’s eastern federal judicial district, which includes Fresno, says the reasons for the steep decline in immigration prosecution are federal court rulings combined with a change in California law.

As a result, Wagner says, dangerous undocumented immigrants are being released from county jails across the central San Joaquin Valley before federal law enforcement can arrest them.

“It’s something we’re quite concerned about,” he says. “Our focus is not people who are here illegally, but people who are here illegally and have a significant criminal history and pose a public risk.”

Immigration activists offer a different viewpoint. They say the change is welcome and has largely stopped people from being held in jail solely because of their immigration status.

* * *

While immigration cases accounted for much of the drop in Fresno federal indictments, there is another area seeing a high-profile decline: sex crimes against minors.

In Fresno, for years this has often been synonymous with child pornography arrests, with the Eastern District of California charging such cases at twice the national average. The backbone of the push has been Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Recently, Wagner asked prosecutors in both Fresno and Sacramento to pursue fewer indictments, but target the more serious cases.

An example would be the arrest last August of Visalia resident Tyrell Richmond, who is charged with sex trafficking after authorities say he tried to force three girls into prostitution in Fresno and Visalia. The case was a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Fresno Police Department along with the Visalia Police Department.

As a result of the new approach, indictments for sex crimes against minors went from 33 in 2013 to 20 last year — a 39% drop.

Wagner says he wants the focus on child pornography production more than the guy with a child porn collection who is “living in his mom’s basement.” He also wants prosecution priorities focused more on sexual predators and any one who is in a position of authority who may be breaking child sex crime laws.